Picking up the new project in Texas! Four generations of the same family starting on another restoration adventure.

A family that plays together, stays together.

Last time we urged you to get the youth involved with the collector car hobby. There is one of our Team Members who is the “Poster Child” for doing just that. Carl Sharp Jr. has been a Team Member and supporter of the Talladega Spoiler Registry since its creation nearly ten years ago. You might remember Carl as the owner and restorer of a Presidential Blue Talladega that he refers to as the only Talladega “hit by a barn”! He is not afraid of big projects and he is a strong family man.

He recently acquired from Mike Atkins, another Team Member, a white Talladega in need of restoration. It was to be the basis of an ambitious father son project. No more had he got that project home and began preparation for its restoration than another potential project caught his attention.

Another Team Member, Rob Hunt, had a Dan Gurney Spoiler II for sale. After some due diligence Carl Jr., his father (Carl Sharp Sr.), his son (Joe who purchased the car, also a Team Member) and grandson (Wyatt Sharp)all headed to Texas to haul the new project back to their hometown in IN.

The Plan

The plan is to do the restoration of the white Talladega and the Dan Gurney Spoiler II simultaneously by the four of them in the same garage. That will be two Aero Cars being restored by four generations of the same family in one garage. Now that is a family that is building some memories, saving some cool cars and creating some new generations of car guys!

Unfortunately, many of us did not or do not have this opportunity to work with our father, child and grandchild all at the same time. Carl and his family are very fortunate and are setting an example for all of us to strive for.

A big thank you goes out to all the Sharps! Hopefully we will see a lot more about this project and the Talladega in the future on our “What Are You Working On?” series.

Do you have a story about how you are helping spread the collector car fever? If so, please share it with us at rfleener@comcast.net.

About the Author: Some of my first and strongest memories from my childhood relate to cars. I still remember when things happened based on what car I was driving at the time. I grew up and lived in Iowa for nearly 40 years before moving to Southern California and now live in Tennessee. I was a Corvette fanatic for years but then re-discovered vintage American Muscle. My wife, Katrina, and I decided we wanted to focus on unique and rare muscle cars. After a lot of research we fell in love with the Ford Blue Oval Aero Cars. These were only built in 1969 and and aerodynamics became an important part of winning races. The only purpose of these limited production cars was to win NASCAR races using the Boss 429 and 427 power plants complimented with a special, wind cheating, aerodynamic body. The Ford Talladega and Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II are terrific and historic cars. This site is devoted to these car and their owners past and present. We provide an Online Registry for recording the long term history and ownership of every remaining Talladega, Spoiler and Spoiler II.

Thanks everyone. Neither project would even be doable without the help and knowledge of the members of this group (and a few other good friends). Both projects have a long way to go.

We have set the ambitious goal of trying to have at least one of the two (and hopefully both) completed enough to bring them to the Fairlane Club of America Nationals in Dayton, OH next summer.

I would like to thank Rob, Marty, Mike, Jason, Clarence, Barry, and Tom for all of their help and advice on these two projects. This last project will be especially challenging, as it will be our first Mercury project, and most of our “spare parts” and knowledge were from my first Talladega project.

I wish you will have a good time working on your two projects . We have to remember these are not Mustangs or Camaros . Parts will be harder to find but some parts for Mustangs will work . Dr Cyclone can help with a lot of the sheet metal .